Making friends and influencing people (and spreading the wealth.)

[karl]

COMMENTARY

By Dale McFEATTERS

May 14, 2009

Mr. McFeatters writes for Scripps Howard News Service

An Entourage surpassing the Queen's

The heads of Government in London for the G20 summit are discussing serious and weighty issues, which in time will be duly reported on, but right now the British press is entranced by the sheer size of President Obama's traveling entourage, and no wonder!

Obama arrived with 500 staff in tow, including 200 Secret Service agents, a team of 6 doctors, the White House chef and kitchen staff with the presidents own food and water.

And according to the Evening Standard "he also came with 35 vehicles in all, 4 speech writers and 12 teleprompters."

For sure our president is not going to be at a loss for words.

The press duly reported on Air Force One and all it's bells and whistles but also the presence of the President's helicopter, Marine One, a fleet of identical decoys to carry him from the Stansted airport to Central London.

Among all those vehicles is the Presidental limousine, which one local paper mistakenly called Cadillac One but is universally referred to as The Beast. The Limo which is reinforced with ceramic and titanium armor, carries tear gas cannon, night vision devices and it's own oxygen and is resistant to chemical and radiation attack. It is marveled by one reporter as a sort of mobile panic room. The Guardian called it "the ultimate in heavily armored transport."

The president is entitled to all the security, communications and support he feels necessary to do his job, but surely, when we're trying to project a more restrained, humble image to the world, the president's huge retinue could be scaled back to something less than the triumphal march from "Aida."

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Is this what greenies refer to as a "small carbon footprint?"

[phkrause]

Seems kind of much!!!!!